‘Keep Moving: Designing Chicago’s Bicycle Culture’ Photo: Courtesy of Chicago Design Museum

1869:Loring & Keene creates a velocipede, a primitive form of a bike remembered for its comically oversize front wheel.

1890:Western Wheel Works develops a metal-stamping process to mass-produce bikes more quickly.

1895:German immigrant Ignaz Schwinn founds his namesake company in Chicago, which becomes the hub of bicycle manufacturing, with 90 plants trying to keep up with the country’s sudden bike craze.

1933:Schwinn brings the “balloon tire” to the United States. The inflatable tube allows for a comfier ride.

2015:Parts manufacturer SRAM takes cycling into the future with eTap, a wireless-controlled gearshift that eliminates messy wires from sleek bike designs.